Southern Carmine Incursion
The Southern Carmine Incursion was an invasion of the two southernmost regions of the Kingdom of the Carmine Sea by a large force of wildlings in 437. Background Under the reign of King Athelmere, the Jarr people had expanded, and colonised or conquered the lands to the south of them, establishing rule over Farridon and Tempestia. These lands were peaceful, and few troops had been raised from them prior to the 430s. Both the Carmine kingdom and the neighbouring Grand Duchy of Pavonia began exploring further to the south. In 434, war again broke out between the Salterri Heartlands and the Priory of Ascension, requiring the Carmine army to travel north to join its Heartlands liege in battle. Shortly afterwards, a group of wildlings, numbering around 18,000, appeared from the south and threatened the two southern provinces. King Athelmere had died in the war, and his successor Alfmark was still absent in Salteire together with the entire army. To recall them to fight the wildlings would almost certainly have forfeited that campaign. An order was given out to summon the militia, but there was no expectation they would be sufficient to hold the wildlings back. King Alfmark quickly received offers of aid from his allies and cousins by marriage, King Khyne of Glazfell and Grand Duke William Adolph of Pavonia. A large Glazfelli army sailed south to meet the wildlings while the militia was still assembling, while William gave his son Clovis his first command of three thousand Pavonians. Conflict Around three thousand wildlings crossed the border into Tempestia, where the Pavonian army met them in battle. The wildlings were completely routed, with the Pavonians claiming that none of them survived. Meanwhile, the remainder of the wildlings descended on Farridon, where King Khyne was waiting with almost his entire army. Khyne was a canny commander with a large and well-equipped army. The wildlings meanwhile appeared to be leaderless and with no clear strategy. Running into a disciplined army that outnumbered them, they stood little chance, and had no answer to the Glazfelli black powder weapons. It was a shattering defeat for the wildling army, and only about two thousand of them escaped. The Glazfelli suffered relatively light casualties, losing only a thousand troops, most of them accidental casualties incurred while pursuing the fleeing wildlings. Aftermath The wildlings were defeated before the militia in the regions had even been fully raised. The war in Salteire over, King Alfmark sent emissaries to track down the survivors of the Farridon battle to request their surrender and to discuss terms. Eventually the surviving wildlings from the invasion, numbering around two thousand, agreed to lay down their arms and settle peacefully in Farridon.http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18077906&postcount=646 Meanwhile a Carmine expeditionary force was sent south into the region the wildlings had crossed to reach the border, to establish a buffer zone in case they returned. Commanders reported an empty land, which became known as Tuhiland, with signs of destruction everywhere and little sign of habitation.ibid. During the brief conflict, a group of refugees retreating through the mountains encountered a band of Arpied, the mysterious and much-feared mountain people of Farridon. After several of the attackers were wounded or killed by the party's Frosten escort, a scholar travelling with the party was able to communicate with the harpies (as the Frosten called them), marking the first time in recorded history that friendly contact had been made with the Arpied. This contact was developed and within a few years the Arpied were making their services available as mercenaries to the crown.http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17965432&postcount=20 Some years after the incursion, Tuhiland once again came under attack, this time from the army of Kelldria. It is believed in some quarters that the initial wildling invasion was prompted by Kell activity, and represent two parts of one longer conflict. Taken together, these events would likely constitute the bloodiest war in history. References Category:Wars Category:History Category:History of Telluris Category:Wars on Telluris